A look at the bizarro world of creator’s rights

Chris Roberson, the co-creator of the DC comic, i-Zombie speaks to Tim Hodler at TCJ about his recent departure from DC and his first hand experiences with the ugly nature of DC’s intellectual property practices when it comes to creator’s rights.

Last week, Chris Roberson, a novelist and publisher who has worked on several comics titles for DC and Vertigo, including his own co-creationiZombie, announced via Twitter that due to ethical concerns, he was no longer comfortable working for DC Comics. The remarks, following in the wake of several other comics-related controversies (Before Watchmen and general disappointment over the handling of Jack Kirby’s legacy, among numerous other things) very quickly spread throughout the comics internet, and shortly led to DC terminating Roberson’s contract. Roberson’s public statements, and the sometimes fiery arguments that they have provoked, seemed in some way to augur a possible modest paradigm shift, and we were very pleased when he agreed to speak to us about what happened, his relationship with DC, and the ethics of the comics industry.

Obviously, the recently announced Before Watchmen is mentioned, so get ready to have a bad taste in your mouth.